Wrong owners were listed in tax legal
Dear Editor,
It is very rare that we write a Letter to the Editor.. However, this is the exception. Recently a public notice was placed in this very newspaper besmirching and libeling our reputation. The notice purported to comply with MGL ch. 60 sect. 53. as a tax taking notice for the property located at 36-2 Beal Street. However, there was a deficiency with the notice, most notably the name of the record owners.
The notice indicated that Mark S. Rotondo and Joseph P. Dow, as Trustees of the 36-38 Beal Street Condominium were the record owners of the property and owed the town back taxes. This is inaccurate. In fact this property has been owned by another individual since July 18, 2014 as recorded in the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds and noted in the town’s own assessor’s records. In fact the town has been billing and collecting taxes from the record owner for the past several years.
When we first saw the notice in the paper, we immediately contacted Monica Ford, Treasurer of the Town via email and made a personal visit to town hall to explain that we were not the record owner of the property, provided her with the correct information in the Registry of Deeds, requested that a retraction be placed, an apology be issued to us and that a corrected notice be placed to ensure the town was able to collect its taxes. Rather than issue a retraction and corrected notice and apologizing for the mistake, Ms. Ford never responded to the email and indicated in the meeting that she “was advised by the town’s attorney†to place the notice. Rather than correcting the mistake, the town, through Ms. Ford, who in a perjured affidavit filed an illegal notice in the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds at Book 56216 Page 208 on June 2, 2016.
In closing, we are not writing to besmirch or libel Ms. Ford, who has the reputation of being a hard working civil servant. However, in light of the information we provided her and her inaction and filing of a perjured affidavit, it begs the question if she is competent. If we conclude that she is competent and was only doing as directed by the town’s attorney it begs the question if the town’s attorney’s had sinister intent and the sole purpose of libeling our reputation. In either case, it is the town who is deprived of much needed revenue.
Mark S. Rotondo
Joseph P. Dow
Dental insurance is too expensive for too many families
Dear Editor,
I’ve had the same dentist for many years and have always taken good care of my teeth with regular checkups. Just last week, I went to the dentist, and I didn’t even have one cavity. I’m sad to admit I am not surprised that thousands of Massachusetts’s residents are facing a very different situation.
Because of the high costs and our shortage of dentists, many are going without dental care. 290,000 children on MassHealth didn’t see a dentist last year, and 59% of our senior citizens in long-term care facilities were left to suffer from untreated dental problems.
We can’t let this go on when there is a solution close at hand. WE need to do what other states have done and set up the guidelines to license dental hygiene practitioners. Working under the supervision of a dentist, they will provide basic preventive care and procedures. They will charge less than dentists which will help to put dental care within financial reach for many who cannot afford it now. I know form my own personal experience how important good oral health care is at all stages of our lives.
Our state legislators need to realize how vital it is to pass S.2076 now. This bill currently in the Legislature would license dental hygiene practitioners here in Massachusetts. Children could establish the good oral hygiene routines that lead to long-term good health. WE all deserve access to affordable, quality dental care; dental hygiene practitioners will help make that a reality.
Rita Quirk